Dr. Williams, Dr. Weiss, and other FML vet students who are knowledgeable
with ferret medicine:
 
We know that these topics have been addressed many times here on the 'net'.
However, our veterinarian does not have access to the 'net' and he would
like to ask some specific questions for him and his research.
 
We have two ferrets who show signs of adrenal tumor.  The first ferret,
Precious Sneaker, has had her left adrenal gland removed last December.
During the surgery, it was determined that her right adrenal was also
affected.
 
Our 7-year-old male, Swamp, is starting to show many of the classic
symptoms of adrenal tumor.  Our vet is somewhat reluctant to perform
surgery on Swamp due to his old age and previous reaction to anesthesia.
 
With these thoughts in mind, our vet has three questions that he's
researching himself and has asked us to post to the FML.  The first 2
questions are regarding the medication that could be used for either or
both ferrets.  The third question is for the benefit of Sneaker only.
 
1.  How effective is lysodren in the treatment of adrenal tumor in ferrets?
2.  How effective is ketoconazol (sp?) in the adrenal tumor treatment?
3.  What is the protocol and effectiveness of a bilateral adrenalectomy
    in the ferrets?  Also what is the follow-up treatment for this procedure?
 
Our veterinarian is using all of the resources available to him to help us.
If there is a repository of ferret knowledge available, pls advise us and
we will pass this information to our vet.  We very much appreciate your
input in advance.
 
Mike and Yuki S. Busch, Ft. Collins, Colorado
and 5 wonderful ferrets (Swamp, Nuke, Mythril, Precious Sneaker, and Socks)
[Posted in FML issue 1144]